In an NBC special set to air Wednesday, Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy speaks out about his Oct. 3, 2003, onstage clash with a 600-pound white tiger that nearly mauled him to death.
Siegfried & Roy: The Miracle features Horn, 59, interviewed by Maria Shriver, who tells the Associated Press of the fateful incident that left a now wheelchair-bound Horn incapacitated and the Las Vegas show with his partner Siegfried Fischbacher shuttered: "No one is 100 percent sure what happened that night."
Jason Raff, the special's executive producer and director, calls the show "a very thorough look. Will we answer every question? No. We will not answer every question."
The more dramatic moments of the special – which was produced by NBC's entertainment, not news division – are expected to include audio tapes of the 911 calls and conversations between Las Vegas University Medical Center hospital staffers and paramedics as Horn was being rushed to the emergency room.
Horn underwent several surgical operations, and in the first 72 hours after the attack Fischbacher had to make "some very quick decisions, life-saving decisions," says Raff. Horn "was very close to dying from what the doctors said. The first three days were truly touch and go. We are going to let the doctors tell what happened."
Shriver says Horn is doing remarkably better, but it's not clear if he'll ever perform again. Still, he's lucky to be alive, and doctors describe his survival as a miracle.
"This is a guy who had come back from the impossible," Shriver says. "He has defied everybody's single belief that he would be here today."
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